Breaking Point
by WikketKrikket
Summary: Rengé has realised something important- she loves Kyouya. The real him. So now, she just have to prove it and make him love her! Every man has his breaking point... Author name changed from Waffles4eva


-1A/N: I finally wrote a one-shot under ten pages, whoo! XD Who's proud? :P This is entirely irrelevant. This is a silly story for a silly couple. I want to write a proper pairing for them someday, indeed I've started one, but I'm writing less and less fan fiction nowadays. Ah well. I haven't proof-read this one I'm afraid, so I'm sorry if it isn't up to standard! Please enjoy! Oh, and, much like most of the world, I don't own Ouran. ;)

Breaking Point

A press of a button, the soft click of a key, cutting the pop music off before it even came to full rhythm. The titles faded, a familiar face filled the screen, smiling for her as it always did.

Rengé waited for her heart to pound. It did not.

_"Welcome." _The voice issued from the speakers. _"It's been such a long time! Where have you been? I missed you!"_

_Sorry. _She automatically selected the response. She didn't mean it.

_"That's alright. You're here now." _The winning smile was shown again. But it looked so wrong, so out of place. _He _didn't smile like that, even if she wished he would. He frowned, or scowled, was always straight faced, just quietly watching and observing, getting the facts before he said his piece. There was nothing sentimental about him. This game was not Kyouya, simple as.

"_What would you like to do today? We can do whatever you like- I don't mind as long as we're together." _

"Unacceptable." Rengé muttered. Something about that face, frozen in the screen. Those kind, romantic words and the soft voice. "Unacceptable…" The cursor hovered, and she selected.

_"Let's go to the park, Miyabi-kun."_

_"Sounds great! I can't wait!"_

The screen began to fade and change setting. The classroom desks melted away and were replaced with grasses and flowers. The face appeared again.

_"We're here!" _The face smiled. _"Let's go ge-"_

"Be quiet!" Rengé screamed, lurching forward.

A second later, she was staring at the black screen, horrified.

She had turned off Miyabi-kun. She hadn't even saved, and she had turned him off. _She _had quit. _She _had lost interest. _She _no longer cared.

Her breathing was fast and scared. What was wrong with her? Why had she done that? She hadn't even played for a long time, she should have been happy, but…

She knew the answer, of course. He was not who she really wanted. A phantom with the face of her loved one, but not his smile or his words or his voice or his mannerisms. The character smiled and liked her depending on what she selected. Kyouya was cool, frowned when he thought, never gave more words than was necessary. He was not charming or attentive or caring, he didn't understand her.

But then, neither did the game, not really.

And the difference with Kyouya was…

Rengé gasped to herself. The difference was, she was totally, massively, entirely in love with Kyouya.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, though no-one was around to hear. "Oh no!"

She had _tried _her very, very hardest not to be in love with him. When Haruhi had told her how Kyouya-senpai was _not _the same as the character in the game, she had accepted it and thought that would be the end.

But it wasn't. She saw him everyday. Watched him everyday. He was not like the character, but, somehow, she liked him more.

Rengé sat on the bed and found herself gazing round her room. And there was that face- the character's face, Kyouya's face, all confused in her mind. On posters and dolls and plushies and the novelty limited edition rice bowl to celebrate the release of the second edition. In every inch of her room. Everywhere. Every cranny.

"I can't stand it!" She screamed. She couldn't help being dramatic, she was made that way. She leapt from the bed, grabbing whatever came to hand, pulling it down, throwing it. "I can't stand it, I can't stand it, I can't stand it! Kyouya-kun, why won't you look at me?! Why can't I forget you?! _I-can't-stand-it_!"

Here Rengé paused in her destruction, having seen the very confused maid standing in the doorway.

"Rengé-sama…" She said, sheepishly. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine!" Rengé replied, her next step already in her mind. Now she had been snapped away from her tirade of emotion, the battle plan began. "I need to phone Mio-chan! Where is my phone?"

"Over here, Rengé-sama." The maid replied, bowed, and made a hasty exit; no doubt wondering again how she had ended up working for such a very strange mistress.

Rengé, however, had no piece of her scattered thoughts to spare on her. Instead, she was dialling furiously, tapping impatiently as it rang. Eventually Mio, her closest friend and sub-editor at the Moe Moe Ouran Journal, answered.

"Yes? Mio speaking."

"Mio-chan!" She wailed. "I need your help!"

Mio was instantly alert. "Why, what's happened?"

"I think I'm in love with Kyouya-kun!"

There was a stunned silence and then a delayed gasp. "Rengé-chan! That's terrible! You do realise-"

"I can never be with him." Rengé completed, dully. "I know. It's a truly tragic tale! Poor, poor, Rengé-chan…"

The reason for the disquiet was the firm rule in within the Ouran Journal and it's readership that no one of them could claim any of their hosts for their own until that host quit or graduated, neither of which seemed likely to happen any time soon- although several were looking greedily at Honey and Mori. Although, Rengé herself failed to see the point, when they couldn't even be seen everyday. Then it occurred to her she could even be content in seeing Kyouya once a week if he was with her, and finally understood. Her heart thudded uncomfortably.

"Are you planning something?" Mio asked, suspicious.

"I have no choice!" Rengé declared. "I am in the throws of love! I have no choice but to discard the rules, the respect of my dearest peers, even my own beliefs! I must know how he feels! I must see if I even stand a chance! I have to _try_, because even the attempt is worth giving up everything, just to get away from this uncertainty!"

"What are you going to do?" Mio asked, caught up in the romance of it all in spite of herself.

"I don't know." Rengé suddenly deflated. "Mio-chan… I am calling to selfishly ask you to risk those same things, and help me."

"Help you…?" Mio murmured, uncertain.

"Mio, I love him, and I don't know what to do about it." Rengé said simply, quietly.

"…I'll come over." Mio replied, and hung up.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Mio was fully onboard. The dynamics of the situation had captured her imagination, and she had taken it upon herself to see Rengé, her senior editor and mentor, happily into the arms of her desire. In her opinion, there was nothing in Rengé not to love and they simply had to make Kyouya-senpai open his eyes. It distressed her to see how melancholy her friend was and soon decided that if Rengé didn't know what to do, she would figure it out for her. She didn't arrive at Rengé's house until almost two hours after she had said she would be there, but when she finally turned up, she was ready.

"We need to make battle plans! And here they are!" She declared, revealing with a flourish a large poster, that she stuck on the wall without hesitation. Rengé blinked at it.

"This is Kyouya-senpai!" Mio explained, brandishing a wooden pointer at the poster showing the anatomy of the human body.

"No, it's not!" Rengé protested.

"Just for now." Mio pacified. "It's a visual aid!"

"I can't think of Kyouya-kun like that!" Rengé insisted, appalled. Mio pondered this for a second, then rummaged in her bag and pulled out a black marker pen. She deftly added some spectacles to the diagram.

"Better?"

"Hmm…" Rengé considered. "Yes, that's much better!"

"Okay!" Mio said. "Well then, Rengé-chan, we shall win your man!"

To her surprise, Rengé did not share her enthusiasm, instead collapsing back onto the bed. "I don't think Kyouya-kun is the sort to be won." She moaned, burying her face in the pillow. Mio firmly pulled it away.

"Don't quit before you've begun!" She commanded, then softened slightly. "Every man has his breaking point, Rengé-chan, you just have to find Kyouya-senpai's! You know more about the Hosts than anyone else… you must have some idea."

"No…" Rengé wailed. "No! Kyouya-kun has no weakness!"

"He does! He just hides it!" Mio said, confidently. "We'll just do this systematically!" Hauling Rengé into sitting position, she returned to the poster. "So we'll start at the top and work down!" The pointer slapped against the diagram, right in the centre of the brain. "Here! Kyouya-senpai is well known for his intellect, so you have to appeal to it!"

And so, the first plan was drawn.

For those that paid attention at school the following day, Rengé had changed over the weekend. In fact, with her hair drawn up into a more serious ponytail and her pink bow missing, she was hardly recognisable, especially behind the rims of some studious black frames.

"Rengé-chan, you look like a real intellectual!" Mio squealed on seeing her. "Where did you get the glasses?"

"I got them off a friend of mine! He used them when he was cosplaying as Keitaro!" Rengé replied, pleased with herself. Then she frowned slightly. "I went as Naru that day… if I'd thought, I could have gone as her college self and had her glasses, but at the time, I thought she wasn't nearly as cute that way!"

Mio, who was not so much of an otaku, nodded and pretended to understand. "Now, we have a test today, right? You have to get the marks to match your image and then you can impress Kyouya-senpai with your vast knowledge!"

"Right!" Rengé said, determined. She always felt a lot more purposeful when in costume. She buzzed into the room. With her new image, she was sure she couldn't fail! (Even though, what with making plans with Mio, she hadn't studied very much the day before. Or at all.)

The test, that all the first years were sitting, was placed in front of her; and on the mark, she turned it over without a trace of fear, ignoring the confused glances her teacher was giving her. They knew better than to ask.

Rengé scanned down the page and discovered there was not a single question she knew how to answer.

"It's the curse of Keitaro!" She screamed. A few people turned around. Most people were too scared to.

"Settle down, Rengé-chan." The teacher said, irritably. "Just do your best."

The class laughed nervously, and Rengé blushed slightly. She sighed, removing the glasses, wanting to cry. Haruhi was one of the people looking at her, and accidentally met her eyes. He smiled kindly, gave a little thumbs up, and turned back to his desk, glaring at the sniggering twins. Rengé smiled a little waveringly. It was true, she had to try her best for Kyouya. She forced herself to calm down, putting the glasses back on to remind herself she was an intellectual and answered as best she could, leaving at the end of the period in a fit of dejection. However, when their papers were returned at the end of the day, she was shocked. There, on the page, was a large '75 percent'. A top B, and on a hard paper, she had to be close to the top of the class. The glasses had worked after all. Elated, she ran up to the host club, and straight to the table where Kyouya was just setting up his laptop to run things for the afternoon.

"Kyouya-kun! Look!"

He looked. "Well done." He said, expressionless as always. "Tamaki will be pleased." He looked up slightly as the other first years arrived. "Ah, Haruhi, Hikaru, Kaoru. How did you do?"

"Ninety percent!" the twins chorused cheerfully.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought." Hikaru commented.

"Haruhi got a hundred, of course." Kaoru added.

"Actually, she technically got a hundred and ten because of extra credit." Hikaru laughed.

"Did we expect any less?" Kyouya shrugged. "Congratulations."

Haruhi, getting embarrassed at the praise, shrugged the twins off and turned around. She blinked.

"Rengé-chan? Why are you on the floor?"

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

The second planning meeting was held that evening, and Mio was not put off. "He was probably impressed!" She tried.

"I can't compete with the twins and Haruhi-kun!" Rengé insisted. "Never ever in a million years!"

"Then never mind!" Mio replied. "We'll move on! Here is the next target!" There was a slap, and the pointer hit the spectacles. "If not his intellect, you will have to appeal to his eyes!"

Rengé was dubious. "I don't think Kyouya-kun is that shallow…"

"Men are _always _that shallow!" Mio insisted. "You just need the appropriate costume!"

Rengé's eyes lit up. "To the cosplay closet!" She declared.

Tuesday's host club was proceeding entirely as normal, and at first, no-one was too disturbed by the sound of Rengé's mechanised platform rising through the floor. However, they were when they saw what she was wearing. The girls stared. Mori covered Honey's eyes and averted his own, but other than that, no-one moved for a full minute.

Tamaki was reanimated in a rush. "You two!" He growled, leaping on the twins. "Did you do this?! This… this… this… debauchery?!"

"No!" Hikaru protested. "Even _we're _not that bad!"

"…Don't you like it?" Rengé asked, confused, but her question went unanswered as Tamaki began to pile every item of clothing he could find in the Host Club's endless stocks over her in the name of decency. She could have coped with that, had she not finally identified the clicking noise that had been in the background the whole time.

It was Kyouya's keyboard, and it hadn't faltered for an instant.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

The third target was the ears, and so in due course, at Wednesday afternoon's club Rengé announced karaoke.

"Karaoke…?" Haruhi sounded horrified.

"It's a wonderful idea!" Tamaki was enthused and rose to the task with aplomb. "Would you like to go first, Rengé-chan?"

"Yes, I would!" Rengé answered, spotting as she did so that Kyouya finally seemed interested, coming away from his laptop and closer to the rest of the room, notebook in hand. Smiling that something was finally going her way, she carefully began to select a song.

"Will you be singing, Kyouya-senpai?" She heard Haruhi ask.

"No." He replied, simply. "To be honest, I despise karaoke. Unfortunately, Tamaki will go on and on until I at least pretend to be paying attention."

Rengé steeled herself, forcing herself to think positively. He was listening, wasn't he? Now she could sing a wonderful song to win him over. A love song, it had to be. She chose, and stepped to the microphone. Over the opening bars of the song, she just had time to hear Kyouya's muttered comment.

"Oh, I can't stand this song… it's so overly sentimental."

Plan C was declared a failure.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

After three successive failures, even Mio was getting a little worried. However, she refused to give up, declaring instead that Rengé would have to aim straight at the heart. The easiest way to do this, she said, was to appeal to the hero in him- in other words, play the damsel in distress.

And so Thursday brought the most elaborate set up. This time, Mio was on standby. Spotting Kyouya on the way to club that day, she gave Rengé the signal, and Rengé fell dramatically against the wall.

"Oh! Oh, my ankle!" She wailed, trying to summon up tears. "It hurts so much!"

Kyouya drew to a halt, reluctantly. Inwardly, Rengé rejoiced. Now he would take her into his arms and as he did so realise his concern meant he loved her!

"Problems, Rengé-chan?" He asked, calmly.

"Yes," she sobbed. "It's my ankle! I hurt it!"

"Oh." He answered, mildly. "I'm passing the nurse's office, I'll send her back to you."

And he left without further ceremony.

Unfortunately, she had no time to mourn this latest defeat due to the need to run before the nurse came and found there was nothing wrong.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"This is our next target!" Mio declared, hitting the poster again. "The man's weakest point!"

"His liver?" Rengé asked, bewildered.

"No, his stomach!"

"Isn't that the liver…?"

"No! It's the stomach!"

"I'm sure it's-"

"The stomach!" Mio said, firmly. "Everyone knows the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach! So all you have to do is make him some good food- his favourite- and then he'll love you for sure!"

"Yes!" Rengé brightened up. "I'm a good cook! What's his favourite food?"

Mio looked at her in confusion. "Um… you don't know?"

"No." Rengé shook her head.

"Oh… but you know more about the hosts than anyone…"

"He's not like the others!" Rengé protested. "They eat pretty much the same things every day! Kyouya-kun doesn't! How was I meant to tell?!"

"That's okay!" Mio said, hastily, seeing her friend's disappointment. "Luckily, I'm here, and _I _do know! Kyouya-senpai's favourite food is…" She struggled to think of something sophisticated, so Rengé wouldn't spot the lie. "Lemon cake!"

"Really?" Rengé blinked. "How do you know?"

"I asked him!"

"Ah…" Rengé sighed wistfully. "I should have known that Kyouya-kun would prefer a sophisticated flavour…"

"Yes, yes, sophisticated!" Mio said in relief, grabbing her wrist and towing her towards the kitchen. "Come on now, get to it!"

"Okay!" Rengé cheered. It _had _to work this time. Just how patient was she expected to be? Surely, she couldn't fail again.

Filled with confidence, Rengé arrived at Friday's club and presented Kyouya with a beautifully made lemon cake, placing it on the desk next to him. He looked up, and she felt her stomach swirl.

"Did you make this, Rengé-chan?" He asked, face as impossible to read as always.

She nodded, for a moment unable to speak. "I… heard you liked lemon cake." She whispered, finding her voice.

"I do." He answered, and smiled. She recognised it as his 'I-have-to-be-nice-to-you-because-my-family-does-business-with-yours' smile, but it made her heart melt all the same. Maybe, once he tasted it, he would smile at her for real…

"Oh, did you get cake, Kyou-chan?" Honey's sugary tones snapped Rengé out of her increasingly romantic daydream.

"Yes." Kyouya replied, turning back to his screen. "Rengé-chan made it for me."

"Ooh, it smells good!" Honey said, appreciatively. "I bet you're a really good cook, Ren-chan!"

"I-" Rengé started, somehow knowing where this was going. Well, it didn't take much working out.

"Can I try some, Kyou-chan? Please?"

"Please do," Kyouya answered. "I can't eat that much anyway."

By the time Kyouya looked up from his work again, Honey, Rengé, and the cake had gone. None of these things concerned him unduly.

Rengé, however, did care and had left the club early for the first time ever, her depression deepening when nobody had noticed. Mio was waiting for her.

"Well?" She said, expectantly.

"It didn't work." Rengé answered, trying not to cry. "Honey-senpai ate it and he didn't even care."

"Oh…" Mio frowned briefly, then shrugged. "Never mind, Rengé-chan! We're only half way down the poster- now it's time for the real stuff! Next is-"

"No!" Rengé interrupted, before very firmly insisting her friend went no further. "It's no good! It's time for Rengé's direct attack!"

"Direct attack?" Mio asked.

"Yes!" She posed dramatically. "I'll confess my feelings to Kyouya-kun directly!"

Resultantly, Rengé was left standing alone outside the club, waiting for Kyouya and trying not to lose her nerve. The customers left first, followed by Haruhi and the twins, to concerned with arguing about whether Haruhi should have a lift home to take any notice Rengé. Honey and Mori appeared next; Honey hugged her and thanked her for the cake, Mori nodded mutely, and then they left too. Finally, with as much noise as always, Tamaki and Kyouya left.

"No." Kyouya was saying in irritation.

"But it would be so wonderful!" Tamaki pleaded. "Think of it! Some of our customers won't have seen one before!"

"We are not having elephants."

"Why…?"

"Do you want the list arranged in order of size or alphabetically?" Kyouya spat sarcastically. It seemed they to would walk by without noticing Rengé standing there, indeed they had already passed her, so she summoned her courage and called out.

"Kyouya-kun!" He turned, looking confused for a moment. "Can I…talk to you?" She asked, trying not to blush. Kyouya paused and for a moment she thought he would leave, but then he waved Tamaki on ahead- who grinned, patted his friend on the back, and then sauntered off in his usual unconcerned way. Rengé got the impression he at least knew what was about to happen.

"Yes?" Kyouya asked.

Rengé swallowed, trying to find the words. Then she realised she already had them. Behind the glass windows, the sun was setting in a magnificent way, casting the shower of the clock tower to his left, orange light over him, and gold over her. It was a good sign. This was her time. This was when it was meant to happen. She didn't have to give words, her heart had been saying them for a long time.

"Kyouya…" She said, liking the feel of his name without a suffix in her mouth. "I… I'm in love with you."

The seconds ticked past and he made no response. For a moment he looked troubled, then his features settled back into their accustomed positions. He bowed slightly. "Thank you. I'm flattered, but-"

"No!" Rengé yelled. "Please, don't do any of that club stuff! I really love you, Kyouya, and not just the character you put on for your customers!"

He straightened up, annoyance beginning to show on his face. "If we're talking of characters, Rengé-chan, I'm sorry to point out that I am not like that game of yours."

"I know." She replied. "I know that. I like _you, _Kyouya. How you are."

"No, you don't." He said, matter-of-factly. "You like the person you think I am. You seem to think that I… well, that I'm secretly nice, or loving, or gentle, or unselfish. I am not any of those things, and I cannot return your feelings. I'm sure you'll come to realise that you are in love with something conjured from your own imagination, and I'll thank you not to trouble me with that. I'll see you tomorrow, Rengé-chan." His piece said, he turned and went to leave.

Rengé stood and watched. Then he turned, a strange expression on his face.

"Why are you crying?" He demanded, almost irritable.

"I'm sorry!" She said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "I'm sorry!"

"You must have known what my answer would be." He said, stiffly. "Why get so upset about it?"

"Sorry…" She said again, still wiping without much effect. "I… I can't stop!"

At that point, she stopped trying, and wept for all she was worth. She thought he had left, but then she heard the sounds of a zip opening and saw him reaching into his bag. He handed her a handkerchief.

"You shouldn't use your sleeve." He scolded, probably for something to say. "You get infections that way."

She took it, not able to speak. She desperately wanted to blow her nose but couldn't bring herself to deface it in such a way when she'd have to give it back sometime. Why couldn't he use disposable tissues like everyone else? No-one used cloth ones anymore.

But… that was why she loved him so much. Partly why. She loved everything. The thoughts made it hurt more, and she cried harder.

"_Why_ are you crying? Stop it!" He was getting frustrated, she could tell. She hated it, and tried to explain.

"Because… because I tried so hard and… and… nothing's going to work! It doesn't matter what I do, you never notice! I… I know you won't ever love me, but I just want you to accept my feelings! I love you! I love you, Kyouya, I love you! And I can't stop crying because it's so… useless!"

"…I assure you," he said, uncomfortably. "I'm not worth crying over. Stop it. Please."

"Yes, you are!" She answered, fiercely, sobbing. "Yes you are…!"

"No, I'm not." He answered, touching her shoulder awkwardly. "The only people worth crying over wouldn't make you."

It was too much. He was being too nice. And that slight contact, she couldn't cope. She needed the comfort. She needed him, and threw her arms around him, pressed close to him, let herself cry into his chest.

He didn't exactly embrace her. She could feel his discomfort. But then, he didn't push her away either.

"See?" She mumbled. "You are nice… you didn't push me away."

And, of course, that was when he did so. Gently, he stepped back.

"I am not nice." He said, firmly. "If nice is what you want, you're looking in the wrong place."

"I don't want nice." She tried. "I want you. Like you are."

"Why would you want that?" He asked, the mask slipping slightly and showing his bewilderment.

"That's what love is!" She sniffed.

"…I'm sorry." He said eventually. "I don't feel that way about you, Rengé-chan." Then he saw her about to cry again, and hastily added "But… hearing that… made me a little happy."

"Really?" She said, hopefully.

"Yes… I suppose."

"You don't like anyone else, right?"

"No." He said, as if the idea was disgraceful. Then, seeming slightly worried, he continued. "I don't think I'd even know how to 'like' someone."

"Then, until that day…" Rengé mused. "Until that day, until you find someone you like more than me, promise you'll fall back on me!"

"I'm not sure that's-"

"Please!" She begged, eyes threatening tears again. "Please, don't say no!"

"I'll… try." He said, doubtfully. Anything to stop those tears from falling.

"Thank you!" Rengé said, delighted. "I'll wait for you, Kyouya! You'll see!"

"I-" Kyouya got no further before Rengé had run off in ecstasy. He rubbed his forehead, suddenly getting the distinct impression this would go very wrong, very quickly.

As soon as she was out of ear shot, Rengé was on the phone to Mio.

"It worked!" She shrieked. "…Almost!"

"Really?!" Mio was thrilled. "What did he say?! What happened?! Did you find his breaking point?!"

Rengé considered this final question. "No… I just told him…"

But really, she knew she had. Kyouya could not stand tears. Who would have thought it?

Even so, Rengé decided to take the information to her grave. After all, she didn't want anyone to use it to their advantage. Not now she had a chance.


End file.
